The Perfect Resume

Professional experience

Qualifications, career highlights and work history

The next section on your perfect resume will list your skills and achievements in three to five bulleted statements. Don't use any terminology that you might repeat later on and stick to quick and effective achievements and qualifications. Here's a sample list:

Qualifications and career highlights

Increased ACME's annual revenue by 25% in five years.

Directed company-wide promotions for over 50 ACME products.

Certified in MoneySmart and QuickMax accounting software packages.

Now it's time for the nitty-gritty, the "Professional Experience" section. You might have a lot to cover here, but your goal is to emphasize, not to overwhelm. Typically, work history is listed from most recent to oldest and includes job titles, company names and the dates of employment for each entry. This format allows your work history to convey upward mobility. If you've worked primarily with one employer, formulate a list of the different positions you've held and how your responsibilities changed over time. Jobs that aren't relevant should still be listed to prevent resume gaps, but keep their details to a minimum.

Speaking of gaps, if you do have them, you can briefly detail what you were doing during the gap if it pertains to school or traveling. If you were unemployed for much of the same year, you can fix it by omitting months from your dates of employment and only including the years.

Here's the fun part: describing your jobs without modesty. Sell yourself by selling your strengths. Resumes are built on your success, not the actual jobs therein. You can take a statement or two to sum up the job with appropriate finesse, but choose accomplishments over responsibilities. With that in mind, use guided proofs to showcase success. These are single statements that begin with a problem (or an implied issue), describe your actions and share the positive result.

Use action verbs and buzz words: Action verbs like "eliminated," “completed” and "implemented" let employers know that you're assertive and take care of business. Industry buzz words, from the job posting for instance, are also useful to show that your work is relevant to their immediate needs.

Include names and numbers: Use important names if you have them, otherwise opt for job titles of those you've reported to. Numerical figures, financial information and percentages give credibility to your accomplishments.

Address unadvertised qualities: Employers look for more than they've advertised, so showcase other qualities that are valuable. Communication skills, team leadership and honesty are good intangibles — convey them wherever you can.

Here's what a job description with two sample guided proofs might looks like:

Senior Marketing Specialist, ACME Enterprises

2001 - 2003

Designed advertising campaigns to target potential software clients in over 20 countries while communicating with 500-plus local clients. Directed and supervised a hand-picked sales team to handle expanding departmental duties.

Remapped existing company sales strategies with CFO Jack Henry and developed strategic sales plans that exceeded revenue targets by at least 25% annually.

Completed Money Edge certification and administered intermediate one-on-one training to the entire 10-person sales team in two months.